A wickedly funny, adrenaline-rush of a novel about a graduate student who murders bad men and justifies it in the name of feminism, by a bold new voice in fiction

Yrsa is in a funk. She’s bored of her PhD program, bored of her research on Afropessimism, bored of the entitled undergrads she has to cater to. But most of all, she’s bored of the men in her life—especially the bad ones.

When her best friend, Nina, confesses to having an affair with her professor, and that he’s stolen her research, Yrsa is mad. On the quad, Yrsa bumps into the professor and witnesses his death: an unfortunate incident involving his San Pelligrino and a bee allergy. What she sees that afternoon awakens something in her: a taste for murder.

Emboldened, Yrsa decides to chase that high, and soon, no sexist, misbehaving man within commuting distance is safe.

With each murder, Yrsa feels a greater sense of meaning and purpose—finally, her doctoral research feels useful. But how long can killing in the name of feminist and racial solidarity justify her actions? Will her rampage ever assuage her feelings of rage and revenge? And how long until her actions—and buried family secrets—come back to haunt her?

“Without Fear tells the stories of Black women who, like Deborah in the Bible, have engaged in social justice agitation, refusing to simply suffer by engaging in the redemptive work of challenging injustice while in the midst of it. Each of us can and must learn from these women if we are to reconstruct America and build a just world.” ―Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, coauthor of White Poverty

Even before they were recognized as citizens of the United States, Black women understood that the fights for civil and human rights were inseparable. Over the course of two hundred years, they were at the forefront of national and international movements for social change, weaving connections between their own and others’ freedom struggles around the world.

Without Fear tells how, during American history, Black women made humans rights theirs: from worldwide travel and public advocacy in the global Black press to their work for the United Nations, they courageously and effectively moved human rights beyond an esoteric concept to an active, organizing principle. Acclaimed historian Keisha N. Blain tells the story of these women―from the well-known, like Ida B. Wells, Madam C. J. Walker, and Lena Horne, to those who are still less known, including Pearl Sherrod, Aretha McKinley, and Marguerite Cartwright. Blain captures human rights thinking and activism from the ground up with Black women at the center, working outside the traditional halls of power.

By shouldering intersecting forms of oppression―including racism, sexism, and classism―Black women have long been in a unique position to fight for freedom and dignity. Without Fear is an account of their aspirations, strategies, and struggles to pioneer a human rights approach to combating systems of injustice.

8 pages of illustrations

One of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century and perhaps the most influential woman in the civil rights movement, Ella Baker (1903–1986) was an activist whose remarkable career spanned fifty years and touched thousands of lives. A gifted grassroots organizer, Baker shunned the spotlight in favor of vital behind-the-scenes work that helped power the Black freedom struggle. Making her way in predominantly male circles while maintaining relationships with a vibrant group of women, students, and activists, Baker was a national officer and key figure in the NAACP, a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and a prime mover in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

In this definitive biography, Barbara Ransby chronicles Baker’s long and rich career, revealing her complexity, radical democratic worldview, and enduring influence on group-centered, grassroots activism. Beyond documenting an extraordinary life, Ransby paints a vivid picture of the African American fight for justice and its intersections with other progressive struggles worldwide throughout the twentieth century.

From the New York Times bestselling creative team behind The ABCs of Black History comes a statement-making follow-up that celebrates women, their history, and their future by centering the diversity of the disruptors who blazed a path forward for everyone.

In a beautiful picture book brimming with G for Groundbreaking women, National Book Award nominee Rio Cortez and illustrator Lauren Semmer celebrate all the joys, challenges, and historic forward movement of women’s history in the United States, with a special focus on the Black women, brown women, transwomen, and others who make change happen. This is a book about Artists, Activists and Allies, about Civil Rights and Choice, about Freedom Fighters, Headliners, Labor -- and Librarians! It’s about historic moments—Kamala Harris being sworn in as the first African-American and first Asian-American Vice President of the United States; Title IX passing through Congress; Seneca Falls, where the first women’s rights convention was held; the Riot Grrrls movement; and so much more. 

The ABCs of Women’s History is a story of persistence. It’s a story of pride. And it’s a story of progress. This book celebrates the disruptors, the dreamers, the determined, and the do-it-yourself-ers who continue to inspire the next generation of women to build a brighter, better tomorrow.

Winner of the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction

The Combahee River Collective, a path-breaking group of radical black feminists, was one of the most important organizations to develop out of the antiracist and women’s liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. In this collection of essays and interviews edited by activist-scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, founding members of the organization and contemporary activists reflect on the legacy of its contributions to Black feminism and its impact on today’s struggles.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality in the United States. Her book From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation won the 2016 Lannan Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book. Her articles have been published in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, Jacobin, New Politics, The Guardian, In These Times, Black Agenda Report, Ms., International Socialist Review, and other publications. Taylor is Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.

Finalist: PROSE Awards for Excellence in Humanities 2023 - Biography and Autobiography

“A fascinating biography of a fascinating woman.” - Booklist, starred review
“This definitive look at a remarkable figure delivers the goods.” - Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A brilliant analysis." - Jericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize winner
Featured in Ms. Magazine's "Most Anticipated Reads for the Rest of Us 2022" (books by or about historically excluded groups)

Born in New Orleans in 1875 to a mother who was formerly enslaved and a father of questionable identity, Alice Dunbar-Nelson was a pioneering activist, writer, suffragist, and educator. Until now, Dunbar-Nelson has largely been viewed only in relation to her abusive ex-husband, the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. This is the first book-length look at this major figure in Black women's history, covering her life from the post-reconstruction era through the Harlem Renaissance.

Tara T. Green builds on Black feminist, sexuality, historical and cultural studies to create a literary biography that examines Dunbar-Nelson's life and legacy as a respectable activist – a woman who navigated complex challenges associated with resisting racism and sexism, and who defined her sexual identity and sexual agency within the confines of respectability politics. It's a book about the past, but it's also a book about the present that nods to the future.

“Who would black women get to be if we did not have to create from a place of resistance?”

Hip Hop Womanist writer and theologian EbonyJanice’s book of essays center a fourth wave of Womanism, dreaming, the pursuit of softness, ancestral reverence, and radical wholeness as tools of liberation. 

All The Black Girls Are Activists is a love letter to Black girls and Black women, asking and attempting to offer some answers to “Who would black women get to be if we did not have to create from a place of resistance?” by naming Black women’s wellness, wholeness, and survival as the radical revolution we have been waiting for.

About the Author: EbonyJanice is a dynamic lecturer, transformational speaker, passionate multi-faith preacher, and creative focused on Decolonizing Authority, Hip Hop Scholarship, Womanism as a Political and Spiritual/Religious tool for Liberation, Blackness as Religion, Dialogue as central to professional development and personal growth, and Women and Gender Studies focused on black girlhood.

EbonyJanice holds a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Political Science and a Master of Arts in Social Change with a concentration in Spiritual Leadership, Womanist Theology, and Racial Justice. She is the founder of Black Girl Mixtape, a multi-platform safe think-space centering the intellectual and creative authority of black women in the form of a lecture series, an online learning institute, and a creative collaborative.

EbonyJanice is also the founder of Dream Yourself Free, a Spiritual Mentoring project focused on black women's healing, dreaming, ease, play, and wholeness as their activism and resistance work.

From breathwork practitioner and the founder of black girls breathing®, a practical path for Black women to heal trauma, combat chronic stress, and find freedom in their own bodies and minds.

It's no secret that Black women have been oppressed for centuries and, as a Black woman herself, Jasmine Marie knows the impact that intergenerational trauma and systemic racism have had—and continue to have—on her community. Those experiences are why she founded a breathwork company dedicated to helping Black women access somatic practices and understand the power of the mind‑body connection to undo the trauma the carry.

In Black Girls Breathing, Jasmine Marie shares the science-backed tools and wisdom of her program to help readers:
* Connect more fully to their bodies.
* Give themselves permission to rest.
* Heal the chronic stress they carry in their bodies and nervous systems.
* Address their emotional pain.
* Rebuild themselves and their communities.

Ultimately, this book is a long-overdue resource for every Strong Black Woman: The woman ready to break cycles of trauma, heal the internalized beliefs of perfectionism and conditional self‑worth, and listen to the wisdom of her inner voice.

CNN’s Abby Phillip, a triumphant new look at Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns of the 1980s and how they changed Black political power

“A joyful, rich, must-read biography of a politician whose flaws and gifts were in constant, intense competition.” ―Jake Tapper

Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, activist, raconteur, and political candidate, finally gets a book worthy of his stature courtesy of CNN anchor Abby Phillip.

Focusing on his presidential runs in 1984 and, especially, 1988, Phillip highlights how Jackson built an unlikely coalition that showed how Black political power could be consolidated. His experience working under Martin Luther King; his organizing the SLCC’s Operation Breadbasket in Chicago and beyond; and his roots in the deep South combined into two astonishingly impactful presidential campaigns. Appealing to the working people of urban enclaves like that of Chicago, young people on college campuses, and Black people across the South, he created the modern Democratic coalition―one that has been used by all major Democrats seeking national success from Obama to Biden to Harris.

With her expert reporting, natural storytelling skills, and a story so full of humanity, politics, and hope, Abby Phillip has written a rousing popular history that sheds new light on an American icon.

Celebrate the release of Reclaiming the Black Body with Alishia McCullough!

EVENT DEETS

When: Tuesday, February 25 @ 7PM

Where: Online via Zoom

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming

ABOUT THE BOOK

An essential exploration of the overlooked impact of disordered eating among Black women—and a prescriptive road map to returning to peace and wholeness within our bodies, from the clinical therapist who founded Black and Embodied Counseling and Consulting PLLC

Food has always been a political tool for the oppressor. And the body, especially the Black body, has always been one of its many battlegrounds.

Licensed mental health therapist, somatic healer, and eating disorder specialist Alishia McCullough understands that for far too many Black women, the myriad effects of racial trauma have disrupted their most essential relationship: the one they have with their bodies—and by extension, with their food. African Americans are disproportionately impacted by disordered eating behaviors, yet their experiences are frequently overlooked by doctors and mental health experts. As a result, entire communities—our most vulnerable communities—are forced to navigate systems that are already primed to dismiss their needs, leaving them without proper care, or often even the language they need to identify what’s wrong.

McCullough’s groundbreaking work radically validates the lived experiences and generational traumas of BIPOC communities. As part of a steadily growing movement among clinicians to “decolonize therapy,” McCullough rejects the patriarchal, white supremacist mindset that has dominated the field, and instead embraces a more integrated approach that seeks to understand disordered eating patterns by examining the psychological wounds left by centuries of racism.

Weaving together crucial history, compelling client stories, guided practice, and McCullough’s own experiences with disordered eating behaviors, Reclaiming the Black Body is a revealing, potentially life-saving book that illuminates the way home, back to the safety and comfort found within our bodies.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alishia McCullough (LCMHC) is a millennial Licensed Clinical Mental Health Therapist and owner of Black and Embodied Consulting PLLC. She specializes in somatic therapy, trauma healing, and eating disorder treatment with a focus on cultivating embodiment and fostering anti-oppression. Alishia currently runs the self-paced online course Reimagining Eating Disorders 101. She  was awarded the 2023 Alumni Award from the Department of Psychology for the noteworthy contributions she has made to the field. An accomplished writer, she is the author of a collection of poems called Blossoming, and  Reclaiming the Black Body now available in bookstores nationwide. Alishia's work has been featured in Bustle, WordInBlack, STAT News, BlackGirlNerds, Essence, Reckon, Wondermind, Pen America and Forbes

“A gorgeous, captivating gem of a memoir…Josephine Baker’s as enthralling on the page as she was on the stage.” —Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone and Sin in the Second City

Published in the US for the first time, Fearless and Free is the memoir of the fabulous, rule-breaking, one-of-a-kind Josephine Baker, the iconic dancer, singer, spy, and Civil Rights activist.
 
After stealing the spotlight as a teenaged Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring Twenties. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans—Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world.
 
When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes as she traveled. She later joined the Civil Rights movement in the US, boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. 
 
First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own voice: charming, passionate, and brave. Her words are thrilling and intimate, like she’s talking with her friends over after-show drinks in her dressing room. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.

*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*

The Women Who Caught the Babies highlights important aspects of the training and work of African-American midwives and the ways in which they have helped, and continue to help, so many families by “catching” their babies at birth. The blend of Eloise Greenfield's poetry and Daniel Minter's art evokes heartfelt appreciation of the abilities of African-American midwives over the course of time. The poem “Africa to America" begins the poetic journey. The poem “The Women" both heralds the poetry/art pairing and concludes it with a note of gratitude. Also included is a piece titled “Miss Rovenia Mayo,” which pays tribute to the midwife who caught newborn Eloise.